Zero Milestone - U.S. Historic Survey Stones and Monuments on Waymarking.com

This mark is exceptionally easy to reach. It is on the Ellipse in front of the White House in Washington DC. Searching any online mapping service for "Washington, DC" will result at this milestone. The marker is on the south side of eastbound E Street NW.

Engraved on the monument are the following: on the north side, "ZERO MILESTONE"; on the west side, "STARTING POINT OF FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL MOTOR CONVOY OVER THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY, JULY 7, 1919"; on the east side, "STARTING POINT OF SECOND TRANSCONTINENTAL MOTOR CONVOY OVER THE BANKHEAD HIGHWAY, JUNE 14, 1920"; and on the south side, "POINT FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES FROM WASHINGTON ON HIGHWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES".

A bronze compass rose sits atop the monument, originally engraved with "THE U.S. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY DETERMINED THE LATITUDE LONGITUDE AND ELEVATION OF THE ZERO MILESTONE." but which has been worn away through weathering and tourists.

The history of the Milestone is long and storied - both Wikipedia and the Department of Transportation have pages on it. Briefly, however, the stone was conceived by Good Roads advocate Dr. S. M. Johnson as a spot "from which all road distances in the United States and throughout the Western hemisphere should be reckoned" in the tradition of Rome.

A temporary Milestone was place in 1919, and from this, two journeys were undertaken, one in 1919, the other in 1920, from Washington DC to California (the earlier went to San Francisco along the Lincoln Highway, while the latter went to San Diego along the Bankhead Highway).

These travels proved extremely difficult at places, and helped cement the importance of good roads among Federal officials. And while the Milestone was never extensively used for its intended purpose, it did serve as a starting point for Good Roads legislation in the United States.

Monumentation Type: Dressed stone Monumentation Type (if other): n/a Monument Category: Initial Point Monument Category (if other): n/a Accessible to general public: yes Explain Non-Public access: n/a Historical significance: See Long Description Monument Website: [Web Link] County: Washington, DC USGS Quad: Washington West NGS PID: HV1847 Other Coordinates: N 38° 53.706 W 077° 02.193 Other Coordinates details: NAD83, NGS via GC.com Approximate date of monument: 06/04/1923

Visit Instructions:
1. A closeup photo of the monument is required.
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2. A 'distant' photo including the monument in the view is highly recommended. Include the compass direction you faced when you took the picture.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   12/17/2023 Cacher_Alec visited it 11/07/2022 Babushka_Qc visited it 07/12/2022 Go Boilers! visited it 12/26/2019 Desafio visited it 04/06/2019 bluesnote visited it 11/14/2018 Team RAGAR visited it 08/24/2017 PatrickValerie visited it 06/20/2017 Kalmoda visited it 08/23/2016 The A-Team visited it 05/10/2016 Silka03 visited it 04/16/2016 lison55 visited it 03/29/2016 rockymountainranger visited it 11/15/2015 DD Drix visited it 10/29/2015 Navy72 visited it 08/03/2015 Skorpions visited it 06/20/2015 Nebola visited it 06/01/2015 stinger503 visited it 05/16/2015 shell1fish visited it 04/16/2015 RN escape visited it 02/27/2015 adenium visited it 11/28/2014 Castor007 visited it 08/16/2014 NakoTacoPatrol visited it 08/13/2014 LeGrandChrist visited it 06/27/2014 m&m O visited it 05/15/2014 Osa2013 visited it

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